We all have personalities that lean towards either introversion or extroversion. Although it’s sometimes not easy to apply labels, Carl Jung theorized that people have both an introverted and an extroverted side, but one side will be more dominant than the other. Those with a dominant introverted side, or introverts, will tend to focus more on their inner activity – what is going on internally in our bank of knowledge. In contrast, those with a dominant extroverted side, or extroverts, are more intensely concerned with the external, outside world.

These traits affect us at work and in our social lives—sometimes to our detriment. The good news is that although our behaviors naturally reflect whichever side prevails, over time we can still learn to draw out our other side. Here’s are six steps you can take.

1. Know thyself. Introverted people are more likely to be good listeners and then process information, while extroverts are the ones putting it out there and picking up their information from external triggers. If you can recognize what your natural state is, you’re in a better position to understand your behaviors and practice assimilating them with your opposite behaviors to achieve the full range of your capabilities.

2. Be receptive. It’s tough to adopt a personality trait that you see as undesirable. Too often introverts will stereotype extroverts as shallow and chaotic. On the other hand, a lot of extroverts will wrongly pigeonhole their introverted counterparts as uptight, aloof and boring. Perhaps you’re having trouble coaxing out your less dominant side because you subconsciously don’t want to or are afraid of doing so.

You can overcome this mental barrier by making a list of all the introverts/extroverts in your life whom you like, love, respect or admire. List the qualities that you like in them and you’ll find that a lot of those characteristics stem from their dominant side. In the process, you may realize that introversion (or extroversion) can’t be that bad after all.

3. Do the opposite. You can’t change behavior patterns overnight, but you can practice behaving differently until it comes more naturally to you. For example, extroverts can substitute their usual attention-grabbing attire for more practical clothing at least one day a week. They can also try listening to more soothing, chilled out music than the upbeat tempos that normally fire them up. In contrast, introverts could have a go at drawing attention to themselves and their workspace by putting photos on the wall or flowers on the desk. A bowl of grapes or hard candies on the desk will also draw more co-workers than usual towards the introvert – who can resist a free snack?

4. Give a performance. Many actors, impressionists and other performers are actually quite introverted. When they step into the character, however, they effervesce just like extroverts do. Robert De Niro, for example, is famously known for enjoying his privacy yet, as one of America’s greatest character actors, he’s able to step into practically any role and take on the personality traits of the character.

Even though it’s not who you inherently are, it is possible to play the game and put on a performance as an extrovert (or introvert). Think back to your school plays or glee club and what you did to really get your teeth into a role or musical number. Don’t think of it as being fake, but rather as a case of “act it until you believe it.”

5. Watch and learn. If you ask introverts and extroverts to do the same management exercise, you’ll notice huge differences in how the two groups approach the task. In the introvert group there will be times when no one is talking and everyone’s just listening, watching, sitting and writing notes. It will come across as a disciplined environment. In contrast, the extroverts are likely to be talking over one another, standing up or drawing on whiteboards in what amounts to a disorganized environment.

We don’t notice these extremes in other contexts because most groups of people are a mix of introverts and extroverts. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, there will be people who are the opposite of you in your social group or your team at work. Observe what these people do differently from you and learn from them.

6. Unearth hidden depths. What if the introvert or extrovert is not you, but a member of your team at work? When I chair meetings and know the people around the table, I watch introverted colleagues closely and make an effort to include them, because they’re not naturally going to speak up. Instead, most of the noise will be coming from extroverts.

An effective leader will offer protection to the quieter participants and remind the more outgoing ones to be inclusive. Give introverts time to speak and encourage the extroverts to listen more. The next time someone is about to interrupt or talk over someone else, ask them to wait and encourage the other person to keep talking. You and others at the meeting may be pleasantly surprised by how much they have to say.